And, would you ever believe it if I didn"t tell you? No, I"m sure you wouldn"t. But, anyhow, all of a sudden, out from the bushes came a bad, fuzzy old wolf, and he stood in front of the bungalow, crying:
"I smell apple pies! I smell apple pies! Also a little piggie boy!
Oh, what a fine lunch I am going to have!"
Well, Flop was so frightened that he couldn"t even walk, much less run, and all he could do was to squeal, "Oh dear!"
The pie lady heard him, and came running to the door of the bungalow.
"What is the matter?" she asked, and then she saw the wolf.
"Oh, my!" she exclaimed. "What shall I do?"
"Nothing!" exclaimed the wolf, sticking out his red tongue. "I"ll do all that"s necessary. But first I"ll eat the apple pie, and then I"ll carry you and Flop off to my den!"
Well, when Flop heard that--heard that the wolf was going to eat the lovely pie--he became real brave, that little piggie boy did.
"You shan"t have that pie!" he cried.
Then the wolf, with a big jump, started for the bungalow to get the pie and the pie lady, but what do you think Flop did? He just grabbed up the pan of apple peelings--long, curling peelings they were--and he threw them at the wolf! Right at the bad creature"s legs he threw them, and the apple peelings tangled up in the wolf"s fur and in his tail, and his legs and paws, and head-over-heels he went, falling down on the ground and b.u.mping his nose on a hard stone.
"Oh, wow! Oh, woe is me! Oh too-badness!" growled the wolf, and he ran away to his den to get some salve to put on his b.u.mped nose, and so he didn"t get the pie lady, nor the pie, nor Flop, either, at least not that day.
Then the apple pie was done, and the pie lady whistled a nicer song than ever, and Curly and Uncle Wiggily came to the bungalow and they all ate pie and were as happy as happy could be. But, as for the wolf, the less said about him the better.
So on the next page, in case the door-k.n.o.b doesn"t tickle the dining room bread-board and make the sawdust come out of the breakfast oatmeal, I"ll tell you about the piggie boys and the jelly.
STORY XXI
THE PIGGIES AND THE JELLY
One day, when Curly and Flop, the two piggie boys, had been at Uncle Wiggly"s bungalow on Racc.o.o.n Island for some days, the old gentleman rabbit said to them:
"Now, boys, I have to go down to the store, kept by Pop Goes the Weasle, to see about some b.u.t.ter and things for supper. Will you be afraid to stay here alone?"
"Indeed we will not!" exclaimed Curly.
"Not even if the bad fuzzy wolf comes out of his den after more apple pies?" asked the rabbit gentleman.
"Not even then!" exclaimed Flop. "If he does, I"ll throw more apple peelings at him, and trip him up so that he b.u.mps his nose again."
"Good!" exclaimed Uncle Wiggily, as he limped off on his red, white and blue rheumatism crutch. "And if the apple pie lady comes whistling along again, get her to make us a prune pudding," he said.
"We will," promised the piggie boys, and then they began to play games in front of the Lake Hopatcong bungalow, while Uncle Wiggily went to see Pop Goes the Weasle, who kept the grocery store.
"Well, I guess she isn"t coming," said Flop, after a while.
"Who?" asked Curly.
"The pie lady. I do wish she would, for I am hungry," and he looked at the bushes, and, all of a sudden, they began to rustle, and the piggie boys didn"t know whether to run away or stay there.
"Maybe it"s the pie lady," said Curly.
"Yes, and maybe it"s the bad black bear," suggested Flop. "I"m going to run into the bungalow!"
Well, he was just going to run, and Curly was going to follow, when, all at once, a sweet gentle voice said:
"Oh, dear, I"m sure I"ll never find any! Oh, and I want it so much!
I wonder where I could get any?"
The two piggie boys looked, and there they saw an Indian maiden coming out of the bushes. They knew she was an Indian maiden because her hair was in two long braids, hanging down in front of her, and she had a brown dress on, and she was very beautiful, just like a picture.
"We needn"t be afraid of her," whispered Curly to his brother.
"No indeed," agreed Flop. "I wonder what it is she is looking for?"
"Jelly," answered the Indian maiden, who heard what the piggie boy asked. "I am looking for a jar of jelly. Oh, I just love jelly, and I haven"t had any in so long that I forget how it tastes! Since early morning I have been traveling looking for jelly, but I can"t find any. Some wild bees offered me honey, but I would like jelly.
Have you any?" and she looked at the bungalow,
"Why, I think we have some," said Curly politely.
"I"ll go look!" exclaimed Flop, for they were both anxious to do some kindness for the Indian maiden, whom they liked as soon as they saw her. She was not a wild Indian, you know, but the kind that lives in Montclair, maybe; a tame one.
So Flop ran in the bungalow to look for the jelly and Curly picked a nice bunch of flowers for the Indian maiden, and she put them in her hair and looked prettier than ever.
"Here is the jelly!" cried Flop, coming out with as much as he could carry. "I"m sure Uncle Wiggily would want you to have it," he said, and then he gave the Indian maiden a spoon and she began to eat jelly and was as happy as anything.
"Oh, that is very good!" she exclaimed. "I hope some time I can do you piggie boys a favor for being so kind to me." So she ate all the jelly up--that is, all that was good for her--and she was just going away, having thanked Curly and Flop, when all at once, on a sudden, out from behind a tree came the big black bear. He waved his paws in the air, and, wrinkling up his black nose, he growled out:
"Ha! I smell jelly! I"m going to have some, too, to eat on my roast pork!" and he looked hungrily at the two piggie boys. They were both too frightened to move, but the Indian maiden was brave.
"Come! Come! Give me that jelly!" growled and grumbled the bear!
"Then I"ll take you piggie boys off to my den and make the Indian maiden cook you."
"Oh, but I"ll not do it!" said the Indian maiden whose name was Pocohontas. "I like Curly and Flop, for they were kind to me and gave me jelly."
"Well, then, I want jelly, too!" growled the bear. He made a jump, intending to take the jelly away from the Indian maiden, but Curly and Flop cried out:
"No, you don"t! Get away from here at once, you bad bear."
"Well, if I go, I"ll take you with me!" said the bear. "If I can"t have jelly I"ll have you piggie boys!" and he caught one of them under each paw.
"Oh, help!" cried Curly, trying to get loose, but he could not.
"Save us! Save us!" begged Flop, making his tail spin like a pinwheel.